Vasab Long-Term Perspective

VASAB Long-Term Perspective

for the Territorial Development

of the Baltic Sea Region

Summary of Actions
sorted by possible leading stakeholder

European Commission

Action Agenda 11:During the revision of the EU transport policy and follow-up work on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, consider the following examples of road and rail links, the current state of which pose the challenge for the integration of transport networks in the BSR from the macroregional perspective:

The Rail Baltica corridor (connecting Saint Petersburg, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with western EU Member States), as it builds the backbone for the integrated railway system in the eastern part of the BSR;
Corridor IA of the TEN-T network connecting seaports of Gdańsk, Kaliningrad and Riga, and its western extension towards Szczecin, as they allow for a better integration of Kaliningrad region with the neighboring EU territories and improve accessibility of the regions on the south-eastern shores of the Baltic Sea;
North-South routes from Scandinavian countries via Central Europe (eastern Germany, Poland) to the Adriatic Sea, as they support more efficient transport services between the Baltic Sea Region and other European macroregions and help develop markets along the corridor;
road connections in some key cross-border areas within the EU territory, e.g., between Germany and Poland in the vicinity of Szczecin and between Poland and Lithuania in the vicinity of Suwałki, as they stimulate the formation of cross-border labour markets, such as the already developed ones in the Öresund area and between Tornio in Finland and Haparanda in Sweden, or in the process of development between Helsinki and Tallinn;
Road connections and border crossing infrastructure on the external EU borders, including the sections of Narva (Estonia-Russia), Kaliningrad-Gdansk, Vyborg-Imatra (Russia-Finland), Terehova - Burački, Grebņeva – Ubiļinka and Vientuļi – Ludonka (Latvia – Russia), as well as between Norway and Russia (Kirkenes-Murmansk), to promote harmonisation of the transport networks between the EU and Russia;
Road and rail links from the ports of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland to Russia and Belarus with the extension to the Far East, Central Asia and the Black Sea region to ensure reliable Eurasian transport connections and services;
Tallinn-Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad-Klaipeda rail links to secure a good connection between the TEN-T and Russian networks in the context of EU – Russia – Far East transshipments and thereby to enhance the integration of North West Russia into the Baltic Sea Region;
East-West routes in the Northern Periphery area (such as Barents Link, North East Cargo Link and Northern Maritime Corridor) to connect the natural resources-rich Barents Region with the large markets of North America and the European mainland, and to provide a better access of these territories to the cargo facilities.

time perspective: Medium/ long

possible leading stakeholder: EU Commission (DG TREN, DG REGIO) in cooperation with Northern Dimension Transport and Logistics Partnership

Action Agenda 12:In the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and its follow-up work, consider the following air transport issues of relevance to the BSR territorial cohesion:

East-West connections in the northern and eastern parts of the BSR (including the city of Murmansk), the scarcity of which reduce the potential for interaction between the peripheral regions;
low connectivity of Hamburg and Berlin to other BSR metropoles;
low frequency of transport services between the metropoles in the eastern part of the BSR, including Kaliningrad.

time perspective: Short/ medium

possible leading stakeholder: EU Commission (DG TREN, DG REGIO)

Action Agenda 14: Develop the Motorways of the Sea in the Baltic Sea Region as a systemic solution to enhance the cross-border scale integration and a transfer of goods between the EU, the eastern neighbours, Central Asia and the Far East. Consider in the revised EU transport policy the extension of the Baltic Sea Motorways system to include further short-sea links between the EU ports, as well as connections from the EU ports to Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg.

time perspective: Medium/ long

possible leading stakeholder: EU Commission (DG TREN)

Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)

Action Agenda 15: Initiate work on the intelligent sea transport corridors in the BSR (separated and electronically monitored traffic routes) by activating at least one pilot project for a corridor with high traffic volumes in an environmentally sensitive area.

time perspective: Short/ medium

Nordic Council of Ministers

Action Agenda 3:Map the territorial cluster potentials of non-metropolitan areas in North-West Russia and Belarus and develop measures for facilitating the knowledge and technology transfer to these territories.

time perspective: Short/ medium

VASAB

Action Agenda 9:Organise a pan-Baltic conference to work out measures for counteracting the impact the demographic trends and labour market development have on the urban-rural polarisation and social cohesion in the Region.

time perspective: Short

possible leading stakeholder: VASAB in cooperation with relevant stakeholders

Action Agenda 13:Monitor the trends in airborne connectivity of the BSR metropoles and report about the prevailing shortcomings and the possible improvement measures at the transnational political meetings

time perspective: Long

VASAB and HELCOM

Action Agenda 20:Arrange a BSR conference together with relevant stakeholders in order to develop a common approach for the Baltic Sea Maritime Spatial Planning.

time perspective: Short

Action Agenda 21:Prepare and implement demonstration projects for some Baltic Sea areas of severe use conflicts (e.g. the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, Norra Kvarken, southern part of the Gulf of Bothnia, including the archipelagos, the Danish straits, and offshore areas south and east of Öland and Gotland, as well as other appropriate Baltic Sea locations).

time perspective: Short/ medium

BASREC

Action Agenda 16:Analyse the territorial development implications of more East-West connections to secure a fully integrated BSR transmission grid.

time perspective: Short

Action Agenda 17:Consider a BSR Energy Supergrid to interconnect the power plants producing renewable energy in the BSR sea areas as a possible component of actions towards a fully integrated BSR transmission grid.

time perspective: Short

Action Agenda 18:Analyse and demonstrate solutions for better utilisation of renewable resources on the pan-Baltic scale and thus a higher energy independency of the Region; exemplary topics:

Possible investments in offshore wind-power installations along the Baltic Sea coast, with an emphasis on raising the potential of Poland and the Baltic States in that field;
Possible investments for a better use of the potential municipal and industrial waste to produce energy in the Baltic States;
Territorial development implications for biomass, solar and geothermal energy use in the BSR.

time perspective: Short

Baltic Metropoles Network

Action Agenda 1:Develop and implement a BSR cooperation strategy for the metropolitan areas of the whole Region by involving relevant urban cooperation actors (e.g., business support organisations, investment agencies, marketing agencies and national/regional authorities, etc.).

time perspective: Short/ medium

Action Agenda 2:Implement transnational networking actions to connect the research and development potentials of the eastern and western BSR metropoles and thereby to enhance the innovation potential of the Region.

time perspective: Short

Action Agenda 4:Develop the measures for harmonising the investment plans of Saint Petersburg with the macroregional economic integration needs.

time perspective: Short

Action Agenda 5:Create and spread within the BSR a model solution on using a stakeholder approach in enhancing the potential of small and medium-sized cities and towns within the metropolitan areas as international centres of innovation and specialised services.

time perspective: Medium

possible leading stakeholder: Baltic Metropoles Network (BaltMet), Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC)

Other Pan-Baltic organisations and projects

Action Agenda 6:Consider launching cross-border cluster cooperation initiatives with North-West Russian entities in the economic branches with high BSR integration potential.

time perspective: Short

possible leading stakeholder: Regional authorities, science and academic sector, business support structures and business representatives (triple helix partnerships) from the territories along the Russian border.

Action Agenda 7:Launch joint transnational and cross-border initiatives to combine the development of metropolitan areas and their rural surroundings in a better way.

time perspective: Short/medium

possible leading stakeholder: Project New Bridges (co-funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013) in communication with relevant national, regional and local authorities around the BSR

Action Agenda 8:Activate transnational networking initiatives to facilitate the foreign direct investments into small and medium-sized cities outside the metropolitan areas, based on the documented success stories in the BSR and other macroregions.

time perspective: Short/ medium

possible leading stakeholder:Baltic Sea Chambers of Commerce Association (BCCA)

Action Agenda 10: Address the obstacle of cross-border deficits in primary (TEN-T) and secondary (interregional connections) transport networks of the BSR countries for developing transborder labour markets in the Region.

time perspective: Medium/ long

possible leading stakeholder: Leaders of strategic transport development actions at the Pan-Baltic level; VASAB to initiate dialogue with the relevant stakeholders, such as the European Commission

Action Agenda 19:Map the coverage status for the ICT services in the BSR cross-border territories and develop joint initiatives to address the detected disparities.

time perspective: Short/ medium

possible leading stakeholder: Local and regional authorities in mapped areas, CBC programme authorities

Action Agenda 22: Initiate joint capacity building actions in maritime spatial planning to ensure exchange of experience, promote education availability and to increase competence in that field at the BSR level.

time perspective: Short/ medium

possible leading stakeholder: BalticUniversity Programme (BUP)

As proposed by the draft LTP document
presented to the 7th Conference of the BSR Ministers
responsible for spatial planning and development